Encinitas Will Launch City Lottery

“We had to come up with something to raise revenue,” said Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear. “The pension debt is so colossal I’ve lost track. Our capital improvement project costs are out of control — I mean tens of millions! Getting affordable housing built is a grizzly that’s hard to bear. People have started calling developments Density Blakespear projects. That’s not good for my election prospects.

“I’ve started to see that planting Goodsons all over the city is not popular,” said Blakespear. “People are also complaining about the roads. Sure, many need paving, but that’s expensive. The virus and recession have hurt tax revenues.

“The council saw that spending and unavoidable financial commitments are exceeding income,” said Blakespear. “We had to do something to reverse that situation. We had to get creative. We put our heads together and came up with the idea for a city lottery.

“Anybody can participate, but they have to buy their tickets in Encinitas,” said Blakespear. “Payouts will be huge. The sky’s the limit. Ticket buyers will give a little, and the city will gain a lot.

“The revenue will go into the city’s general fund,” said Blakespear. “How it will be spent will be at the council’s discretion. Every spending commitment will require a super-majority affirmative vote. We think we came up with a great plan. What could go wrong?”